Are You Using the Right CE Module – Or Just Making Do?

Let’s have an honest moment: how confident are you that your team is using the right Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE) module for the job? 

I don’t mean “is it working?” I mean, is it actually aligned with your team’s day-to-day needs, goals, and workflows - or are you just making do with what you were sold? 

Over the past few years, I’ve worked with companies that chose a CRM solution simply because it was what their partner recommended, or it was the “enterprise” version, or - my personal favorite - because “it’s what the head office in Europe is using.” 

It’s easy to fall into the trap of buying too much, too little, or the wrong thing altogether. So today, I want to unpack this with you. 

Let’s explore the differences between the D365 CE modules, when they actually make sense, and how to know if you might be forcing a square peg into a round hole. 

Just Because It’s Expensive Doesn’t Mean It’s the Best Fit 

Here’s a story. 

A mid-sized insurance company I worked with was using Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise. On paper, it sounded great - pipeline tracking, forecasting, territory management, AI assistance. But after digging into their actual use case, we found that their brokers were only logging contact info, sending quotes, and following up with clients. That’s it. 

No need for lead scoring. No complex opportunity stages. No in-depth reporting. 

They could’ve easily used Sales Professional - saving thousands in licensing each year. But no one had taken a step back to ask, “Is this what we really need?” 

Have you asked that lately? 

 

Let’s Break Down the Core CE Modules 

Before we dive into red flags, here’s a quick refresher: 

🔹 Sales Professional vs Sales Enterprise 

• Sales Professional is great for smaller or less complex sales teams. It covers basics like accounts, leads, opportunities, products, and email engagement. 

• Sales Enterprise adds forecasting, advanced customizations, hierarchical security, AI insights, and integrations like LinkedIn Sales Navigator. 

If your team just needs to log deals and stay in touch with clients - Sales Pro may be all you need. But if you’re managing territories, quotas, or multi-stage enterprise deals, Enterprise is your friend. 

🔹 Customer Service vs Omnichannel vs Contact Center 

• Customer Service handles core support: case management, SLAs, and a knowledge base. 

• Omnichannel adds chat, SMS, and voice to meet customers where they are - ideal for real-time service teams. 

• Contact Center (launched recently) is more robust and AI-powered, designed for enterprise-scale support operations with deep insights, voice bots, and call recording. 

If your customers mostly email or call occasionally, Customer Service alone might be enough. But if you’re trying to scale a digital-first support experience, Omnichannel or Contact Center makes a huge difference. 

🔹 Marketing (Journeys) vs 3rd Party Tools 

• Customer Insights – Journeys (formerly Dynamics 365 Marketing) is designed for journey orchestration: building automated email flows, segmentation, lead scoring, and event management. 

• But many teams use Mailchimp, HubSpot, or ClickDimensions without realizing they’re only scratching the surface - or in some cases, overcomplicating things. 

If your marketing team is growing and wants to create more personalized campaigns across multiple channels, Journeys might finally give them what they’ve been duct-taping together with other tools. 

 

The Tell-Tale Signs You’re Just Making Do 

So how do you know if you’re using the wrong module - or not using your current one to its full potential? 

Here are a few red flags I’ve seen (and yes, I’ve been guilty of some of these too): 

• Your sales team tracks their pipeline in Excel - even though you have Sales Enterprise. 

• Marketing sends emails through Mailchimp because “it’s easier” than using the CRM list. 

• Customer service agents have 3 tabs open: Outlook, Teams, and a shared Excel sheet - while Customer Service sits mostly untouched. 

• You rarely use dashboards or reports in the CE system because “they’re too complex.” 

• New users struggle with the interface - because it’s too bloated for their role. 

If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. These are signs that your system might be more than you need - or less than you deserve. 

 

Matching Modules to Business Models 

I always tell clients: the module should fit your business model, not the other way around. 

Let me give you a few scenarios: 

• A tech startup with 3 sales reps, no formal support team, and Mailchimp for outreach? Start with Sales Pro + Power Apps for customer feedback forms. Scale later. 

• A bank with service centers, chatbots, and regulatory SLAs? That screams Customer Service + Omnichannel (or even Contact Center). 

• A construction firm that tracks site visits, client communication, and quote approvals? Sales Enterprise + Field Service makes more sense. 

• A healthcare provider with patient onboarding, reminders, and engagement? Consider Customer Insights – Journeys to automate and personalize patient journeys. 

The trick is to map the customer journey to the platform modules, not the license tiers. 

 

You Deserve a System That Works for You 

Here’s something that’s stuck with me over the years: The best CRM is the one your people actually use. 

That sounds obvious, but I’ve seen so many clients choose complexity over usability. Or spend months customizing a system when a simpler module would’ve done the trick in half the time. 

Ask yourself: 

• What are the top 3 things your team does in CE every day? 

• Are those things easy and intuitive - or buried under features you don’t use? 

• If you had to justify your license costs today, would you be able to? 

If you’re just “making do,” it’s not a failure - it’s an opportunity. 

Final Thoughts: Reevaluate Before You Reinvent 

Your business evolves. Your customers evolve. And so should your CRM approach. 

Maybe it’s time to reassess: 

• Are you paying for features you don’t use? 

• Are your teams underpowered because they don’t have the right module? 

• Could switching to a better-aligned license improve adoption and outcomes? 

The D365 CE ecosystem is flexible. You can scale up, scale down, or add modules as your needs grow. But you can’t afford to keep working around a system that’s not built for the way your people actually work. 

So - what’s the first thing you’ll review in your CE setup this week? 

Let’s stop settling. Let’s build CRM systems that actually work for the people who use them. 

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